Bwog’s Special Correspondent Zoe Camp reports from last night’s SGA meeting.

Tonight’s special guest was Lisa Gamsu, Barnard’s Vice President for Administration and Capital Planning! And so ensued a lengthy conversation on all things Facilities:

• During the construction of the Diana, the Lewis Parlor was used as a common space. With the Diana completed, the doors of Lewis remain closed. The administration is currently debating future uses of the room. One possibility – greeted with enthusiasm by the meeting’s attendees – is a reading room, complete with long tables and nice furnishings around the perimeter in a fashion akin to the reading rooms of the NYPL. But if this happens, it seems unlikely that it would be used for luncheons, parties, etc.

Read more…

Black with a pop of color was the new black this week up in Columbia-land. As the temperature finally warmed and spring break loomed, Bwog spotted happy splashes of color everywhere, a reminder that winter, and indeed, midterms, won’t last forever.

Alex Comiskey, SEAS ’11, Schermerhorn

Major: Applied Math

What are you wearing? I wanted it to be the end of winter, so I wore color today. Just a green checked shirt from Uniqlo. I found the hat at a thrift store downtown. The bag is a friend of mine’s. It’s from Zara and I liked it better as a briefcase than a shoulder bag, so I decided to fold it over.

What is your fashion philosophy? Always sleek and close-cut, and also colorful.

What’s one piece in your wardrobe you cannot live without? It used to be my big pair of headphones, but now I guess it’s this hat. It’s my new favorite thing.

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DSpar preaches about the mandatory meal plan against a backdrop of free food.

If you wandered past Barnard’s new Events Oval last night, the first thing you might have noticed at the Meal Plan Forum, even before the presence of the forty or so mostly angry attendees, would have been the two tables of catered food. Ironic, yes, but it did placate the hordes of meal plan-protesters, at least for the first half hour of the event. Here’s our recap of the the long, passive aggressive battle that was the Meal Plan Forum of ‘010.

Seniors v _?

A number of seniors showed up to voice their disapproval. Given that the meal plan is not in effect until next fall, no one quite understood what the seniors were one doing there, though one senior took the floor to violently express her dissatisfaction with the controversial Barnard graduation-room change.

Hand-Raisers v Other Hand-Raisers

Instead of instructing questioning students to form a line, the event’s organizers distributed approximately three microphones, all switched to “on,” among the first shift of hand-raisers, whose own questions initiated further hand-raising and general mic-fueled chaos. This disorder persisted until a full-scale mic war had broken out on the floor, with students straining to raise their hands the highest and gain entry into the next round of question-asking.

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Barnard ladies were treated to much more than their daily Anna Quindlen dose today at the Diana’s ribbon-cutting ceremony: it rained berets! Each class was treated to a beret in their own class color. So some people got green berets, and other people got red berets, and alumni got knitted berets, because they are old! Hannah Goldstein noted that after the ribbon was cut, “Celebration” by Kool & The Gang started playing, and the crowed started nodding along in multi-colored beret-fitted splendor.

Some take-home messages from the speakers: The Big Kahuna Diana Vagelos herself called the building an “open and flexible” environment for students. I’ll say! Anna Quindlen called the Diana “beautiful and colorful, just like Barnard women.” SGA President Katie Pallilo expressed hope that “the Big Sub snakes its way through the lobby.” Bwogger Sam Schube was delighted to have an opportunity to step into the Diana Event Oval, where refreshments were served after the ceremony.

In the words of Marion Weiss, the building’s architect, the Diana’s atrium “should be a tease for people who want to know more, to come onto campus and not just into the building to find out more about Barnard.” Oh Diana!

Beret photos and more after the jump.

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Bwog welcomes The Diana to Morningside Heights. Her ribbon has been cut, and students are gathering outside, excited to officially enter.

Diana T. Vagelos had this to say about the naming of the building during her opening speech:

Thanks to Sarah Camiscoli for the video coverage

In our latest installment of “In Defense Of…”, Nikhita Mahtani takes on the haters of The Nexus/Vagelos Center/Diana’s new color scheme.

Barnard’s new student center has been in the making for a long time now. Every semester, Barnard students wait for the incessant banging in the Quad to stop and the walkway between Altschul and Milbank to open, so they can sleep in for five more minutes every morning. Finally, the wait is over, and the inappropriately nicknamed Vag has started showing some signs of completion. But Barnard students are far from happy. 

Unlike the picturesque Alfred Lerner Hall, with its big glass windows and neutral colors, the Vag decides to be a bit more… well, unique in its approach. According to the renderings on Barnard’s website, the Vag will have dull peach/orange colored windows, and the inside will have a multitude of red and orange chairs to ‘complement’ the outside. A mixture of dull and bright reds, coupled with the bright yellow tube lights they have decided to put in, will definitely give all Barnard students the vision of entering the 70’s, complete with hip colors and groovy disco ball themed effects. Not something you want when entering a student center… or is it?

Yes, the colors might be too much and the lighting might be too strong, but the Vag has something that Lerner doesn’t – a personality. For students trying to study at the Vag, falling asleep will be just about impossible; there’s simply no way you could drift into dreamland with those bright lights and colors staring at you in the face.  Imagine how much money you’ll save on coffee and Red Bull! Read more…

At the “coolest” part of Barnard’s Spirit Day – “Celebrity Scoops,” where administrators served free ice cream to students – President Deborah Spar announced that the Nexus will now be known as “The Diana” (yes, just “The Diana”).

The new moniker replaces the unofficial name of “The Vagelos Center,” a change that possibly maybe perhaps almost certainly came about because of the building instantly being nicknamed “The Vag.” Not only is it the first name of Diana Vagelos, whose family gave $15 million to the project, but, as President Spar noted in her announcement, “Diana is the goddess of female power and strength.” Spar did not note that Diana is also a virgin, the goddess of the hunt and chastity, and notable for her enjoyment of revenge, often taken on men.

A quick informal naming survey suggested that students in attendance approved of the name. Then again, several attendees also commented that, with that much money, the Vagelos family “can name it whatever they want.”

- JCD

Bwog receives a lot of emails. Still, even Gmailers as jaded as we were curious about the following anonymous correspondence, the subject line of which was “giant vagina in carman elevator! 2:30ish am, Dec 1″ 

We were hoping there would be an explanatory picture, and oh, was there ever.

 No further context was provided, and you know what, we’re okay with that.

Everybody will read today’s issue for some forum. But there is other news, apparently:

Madonna Constantine refuses to go away.

How quickly could you construct a “Vag?”

Professors aren’t gods? Whaaat?

Already tired of New York clubs? Some months-old options.

Gather round Columbia, it’s time to re-welcome IvyGate into our browsers and into our hearts. Naturally, it has returned dressed to the nines, with a new WordPress redesign and fresh-faced summer editors. Bwogger Justin Vlasits favors the mouse over chalk-underlines in the new masthead (see above), while a Yalie friend of Bwog noticed that clicking on the chalky names re-directs readers to posts about that school.

Now let’s meet the man and woman behind the summer incarnation of IvyGate 2.0. Why look, it’s hometown favorite Nina Shield (BC ’07), and some rising sophomore from Harvard.  After introducing herself, Shield puts together a nice little wrap-up of all Vag-related happenings. She is the first Columbian to helm the good ship IvyGate since the legendary days of Chris Beam and Nick Summers. (Oh, and Andrew Nusca, a former summer editor, was a J-Schooler.) Go Lions. 

Earlier this morning, Barnard students received a message from outgoing President Judith Shapiro informing them that their would-be Vag will not be completed by its scheduled Fall 2009 date — something about subcontracting gone awry — but will instead open in January 2010. 

But there are silver linings abounds: Starting this fall Lewis Parlor will function as a cafe/student lounge, and Shaprio promises that student-oriented events will receive a higher priority when assigning space. The fully functioning Vag, Shapiro assures us, “will definitely be worth this uncomfortable wait.” Oh, we have no doubt.

Full email after the jump.

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Today is BC Spirit Day, and this afternoon, over what was reportedly a less-than-enthralling fireworks display, Barnard announced the new name of the Nexus, its new ominous-sounding student center. The Nexus’ new moniker? The Vagelos Center—the name was kindly spelled out in fireworks for all to see.

“We’re going to go to THE VAG,” said one exasperated Barnard sophomore.  

UPDATE: Today’s ceremony featured the word “Vagelos” spelled with fireworks, sending mixed feelings of anger and bemusement throughout the Barnard crowd. According to an official Barnard source, the fireworks honored the family of Diana Vagelos, who has been the project’s largest donor. Barnard has also previously stated that the namesake of the building will come from its major donor—hence the natural assumption that the fireworks spoke to both donor and new name. However, as of yet, it’s not been set in stone. (Pun intended.)